No one wants to spend hours cleaning up leaves and debris from the garden, when a leaf blower is so affordable and can do the job in a fraction of the time. There are many other uses for a leaf blower like cleaning around the house, in the garage or while doing DIY projects that require you to blow away dust while working. They are also great blowing dirt from air filters and drying the car after you’ve washed it.
Deciding which leaf blower is the perfect one for you, can take some consideration. You’ll make your decision based on your own set of circumstances. To make this easier, we’re going to help you look at your options. We’ll start by comparing gas leaf blowers with their electric counterparts. Making this first distinction will help greatly help in narrowing your search for the best leaf blower that perfectly matches your requirements.
Choosing the Best Leaf Blower
Gas Leaf Blowers
As the name suggests, these leaf blowers use a gas powered engine to drive the turbine that causes the air movement. A gas powered leaf blower will give you the greatest amount of power, this makes them the favorite for landscapers who need to clean up large areas as quickly as possible.
Of course, this power comes with some disadvantages. Gas leaf blowers are heavy and larger models are so bulky and heavy that they are designed to be carried on your back, like a backpack. They are also noisy, some produce noise levels in excess of 100 dB. National regulations for health and safety state that anyone working in an environment where noise levels are above 85 dB is required to wear ear protection. These noise levels don’t only affect the user but can also upset your neighbors, turning the sweet old lady next door into a raging tyrant.
Some of the other issues surrounding gas leaf blowers are fumes from the gas engine and gas storage containers. Because it uses a gas engine, there’s also maintenance to consider. The engine needs to be serviced regularly in order to keep it working properly and prolong its lifespan.
Despite these drawbacks, they still remain popular for both home and commercial use. This is not only because of the extra power but also their working range. People with large properties will find that using a leaf blower with an electric cord to be too limiting. You may not always be able to work everywhere within range of an electrical outlet.
So if you have a particularly large yard and need to move a large amount debris or you own a landscaping business, a gas leaf blower will probably be your best option.
Electric Leaf Blowers
When it comes to electric leaf blowers, we need to distinguish between battery leaf blowers and electric cord leaf blowers.
Models that use an electric cord are popular because of there affordability (they are the cheapest of all leaf blowers) and they are lightweight and very easy to use. They don’t usually have the same power as gas models and are therefore, better suited to small yards. The restriction of cord length also limits them to use in smaller yards.
Electric leaf blowers are also preferred by some because they are relatively quiet and don’t produce any fumes. There’s no mixing of fuel and oil to worry about and they start with touch of a button. This makes them very user-friendly and maintenance costs are virtually nonexistent.
If you want the benefits of electric without the limitations of an electric cord, battery leaf blowers may be the solution for you. They cost more and are slightly heavier but for the rest they have all the advantages of electric. The only disadvantage with using is batteries is that you are limited by battery life. Most battery leaf blowers will run for about 10-15 minutes at full power (longer at lower power settings). People who prefer battery powered tools and use them a lot, overcome this problem by buying two or more batteries. This way you can charge one battery while using another, without disrupting your work.
Electric leaf blowers are a good option for people with smaller yards that don’t require the extra power of gas.
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